A Revamp... Again

Today I was given the list of how much PTO (paid time off) I have for 2011.  After looking at this I realized "CRAP.  I'm turning THIRTY this year."  And I felt old. 

What would make me not feel so old?  Well travelling doesn't make me feel old, I think I'll travel somewhere.  Who would I go with?  Well Alyssa's turning 30 this year too, I could go somewhere with her.  Where should we go? Well she's never been west of the Mississippi, we should go west.  California!  Brilliant!

And it was this thought process that brought us to the present situation which involves us still running a ton, still going to Disney World next January, but now adds in the additional cost of a 5 day trip to California.  The current plan is to fly to SFO (San Francisco) the evening of August 9th and spending part of the long weekend in Napa.  Sounds nice, doesn't it?  Well now this all depends on whether or not she can get the days off, she won't know until February so all we can do now is hope.

In anticipation for this potential trip, we are revamping our race schedule.  Namely we will not be doing the Roaring Earth Day Dash and instead of running the Flying Pig 1/2 marathon we will instead run the Flying Pig 10K.  Both of these decisions were made purely from a dollar and cents point of view, not as a waning interest in running.

Another thing that's going to get revamped this year is my backyard.  I am going to be trying my hand at vegetable gardening - using seedlings this time instead of seeds.  Hopefully I won't kill everything I plant.  I think I'm going to build 2 or 3 small raised veggie planters on the upper tier of my backyard.  After seeing what the soil in the backyard is like in the spring/ summer I think this is a wise plan (it's exceptionally rocky and just not very good for planting veggies in).

Is anyone else dreaming of the warmer days to come, which currently seem like light years away?

Merry 2nd Day After Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!! I got a new digital camera, so hopefully that means I'll be posting a lot more pictures!  AND my laptop is now officially fixed - thanks Justin!!! 

Just a few more days until New Years.... Get those resolutions ready!

The Last of the Ornament Swap

Here are the last 4 ornaments from the swap:

As much as I hate picking one out, I have to say I think the moose is my favorite!  My opinion could be skewed perhaps by the fact that I have a collection of Christmas moose (or mooses or meese or meeses or whatever term you like best for multiple moose!)

And for laughs...

Here is poor Ellie...

She's such a good sport...

Don't you agree?





Christmas is Coming.... And I'm Nowhere Near Ready

I have a whopping 3 gifts bought/ made and so many more to acquire or make or bake or whatever....
One thing I can check off my list though is my Christmas cards - well ordering them anyways.  Luckily  overnight shipping on Snapfish was the same price as standard and they are offering 25% off your card order through the new year, so I was able to get exactly the cards I wanted without having to worry about the fact that I needed them fast and I wanted a higher quality card rather than just your standard photo card.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the standard photo card - goodness knows I've sent them out so many times, but I just wanted the cards to be a little special since goodness knows the presents won't really be anything extravagant.  And the only reason I chose Snapfish over Shutterfly was because they are who Flickr is linked to and I could use photos I had saved in Flickr.  Truthfully I use both equally and I have different photos saved to each site, which actually was a nice surprise when my computer crashed taking all the photos I took in Europe with it.

On the agenda for today is candy making.  Alyssa is coming over and we are going to be truffle making machines!  I made truffles last year and decided it would be more fun with friends, so I invited Alyssa, Angelina and Amanda (all my "A" girls!), but Amanda had plans and I never heard either way from Angelina.  Although it may just be me and Alyssa it will still be fun.  I'm going to lug my TV back downstairs so that we can watch Christmas movies during.  We're making 6 different types of truffles, and hopefully we can get about 4 dozen out of each type, so that would be 24 dozen or 288 truffles!  Which, split 2 ways, is 12 dozen (144) each.  I plan to give some out to friends and co-workers.  Also we're going to dip caramels in chocolate and nonpareils - an easy way to make a nice looking festive candy.  Last year they were some of the most popular candies I made, and hands down the easiest!

I'm also going to assemble cookie jars for my coworkers today - the kind of jars where you layer all of the dry ingredients for a batch of cookies and they just have to add butter and eggs.  I'm making 3 different types - including a diabetic friendly version (made with splenda) for a coworker who is diabetic.  Tomorrow is macaron day.  I'm planning on making 4 varieties for my friends.  Once I had discovered that I could make an almost passably French macaron, I fell in love with making them.  They just require a lot of planning so that you can achieve optimal results.  Tartelette has a good tutorial if you're interested in trying to make them yourself.

I got my last ornament from the swap in the mail on Thursday - I'll post pictures of the last few on Monday. 

Now if anyone has any ideas as to what I can get my brother-in-law, who is currently getting his PhD in English Lit, I would welcome any suggestions.  Preferably suggestions under $20!

Unless I win the football pool this week.  Then I could afford a $30 present ;o)

Things I Learned While Walking Across a Bridge With a Wind Chill of -2 Degrees

• You should have dried your hair... Even with a hat on, it still turned to icicles.
• If you're going to cover your entire face, only leaving your eyes exposed, it might be wise to wear your contacts because your glasses will most certainly fog up.
• Be glad you chose to wear shorts under your skirt, because the wind was a'whippin'!
• That said, you should have worn pants, because your legs - from the bottom of your shorts to the tops of your kneesocks - were so cold it was painful.  It feels as if someone was jabbing you with pins and needles. This was not the day to brave the weather in a skirt and tights.
• You really should think about investing in a parking pass, if only for the winter months.

Brrr.....

Jingle Bell 5K

Ok, so now the Jingle Bell is officially my 2nd favorite race!  (after Costumes for a Cause of course) The mix of athletic levels, the costumes, and the crowds totally made it a very fun run.  That and the fact that the elite runners got confused as to how the race was laid out and a lot of them had to double back - which by the way was hilarious to watch.  If you're an elite runner, I apologize, but for me - an affirmed mid to back of the pack-er - watching them mess up was a complete guilty pleasure.  Alyssa and I had matching times (41:34, with a 13:24 pace) and placed 855th and 856th out of 1159 finishers.  It's not a very fast pace, but after having barely run since the half marathon, it was a comfortable pace.

Also of note - we only walked 2 out of those 41 & 1/2 minutes!  That's 39.5 minutes of running folks - yay!!!

Alyssa and I after the race.

3, 4, 5, and Christmas photos!

This week has been so crazy chaotic and I had hoped to post a couple of these earlier in the week, but oh well, such is life.

This was the 3rd ornament I got from the swap

and the 4th

and the 5th

This is what my ornaments ended up looking like (much different than originally planned), and I finally got them out in the mail yesterday, so hopefully you will all be getting them soon!

It's been so cold here, it was even too cold for Frosty!  So he came and hung out with me and Ellie in the house... Well that and it was too cold for me to deal with hauling the ladder outside to decorate, so that will have to happen Saturday morning after my race but before my party.

We attempted Christmas photos the other night and they didn't go so well.

Ellie refused to sit by the tree...

And then she decided sleeping was preferable to getting her picture taken...

And so, the tree stands alone, no Ellie to keep it company.

Mini Blogs - Part 6

Aren't you so proud of me?!? I'm up to 6 Mini Blogs!!! Well I'm proud of me :o)

Earlier I complained about something Bill Bryson said in Neither Here Nor There, now it's time for something I agree with:

He was very impressed with the Musee d' Orsay in Paris - as was I, so at least we agree on that!

In fact, here is Flat Zach enjoying the art at the Musee d' Orsay as well...

Mini Blogs - Part 5

So you may be wondering how Turkey Trot went... well... it didn't.  Yes, the race still occurred, but Alyssa and I both decided it would be in our best interest to miss it.  I confess - I did not earn the shirt. However, if you were in Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving morning, you would knew that the weather was doing it's best impersonation of a typoon.  I don't think it stopped raining all day.  And to cap it off, the temperature was only in the 30's. 

So instead, we went to Dunkin' Donuts and had munchkins (donut holes) and hot cocoa (well I had hot cocoa, Alyssa and Bob had coffee), and watched as the rain water flowed across the parking lot.

Mini Blogs - Part 4

Poor Londy!!! Alyssa's cat, London, had to have emergency surgery this past weekend - he was (as the vet said) a "blocked cat." And then they discovered his bladder stones, so that meant a second surgery. At least now, after several nights at the kitty hospital, he is back to their home. They had to shave the poor dear for his i.v.s so now he looks like he has skinny forearms and with fluffy black mittens on. They also shaved his entire nether regions, but I opted not to check that out. I'll take their word for it. He now is on the exact same brand and type of food as my Ellie - just the kitty version instead of the puppy type!

Mini Blogs - Part 3

I have been rereading Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson and one part had me a little perturbed...

He travelled to Cologne and was complaining about how the plaza surrounding the cathedral was empty and cold and found it to be quite ugly (to sum it up briefly), but in Cologne's defense I must say - he should see it at Christmastime!

And he also said there was nothing too impressive about the cathedral itself - again - I disagree. 



An awesome pixelated style stained glass window

And relics of the Magi (the 3 Wise Men)!!!  Perfect in time for Christmas!

Mini Blogs - Part 2

I got my second ornament yesterday!!!

I love when things come in little packages - it adds to the suspense...

He's totally cute!  (the picture's kinda dark, but you get the idea)

Mini Blogs!!! Part 1...

Sorry it's been a while, but I've been on vacation and thus away from a computer for a while.... But to catch up today I'm going to do a series of Mini Blogs!!!  Enjoy...

Ellie and the Reindeer


We were decorating the dining room last night and my annoying reindeer (one that lights up and sings songs and dances) fell off the table and rolled under the tree. Ellie walked up to it and, employing her puppy emt skills, made sure it was ok. When she was sufficiently satisfied she took him by the hand and carried him to her bed, leaving him in front of the heater so that he could recuperate in comfort.


She has such good puppy emt skills.

1st Ornament!

Yesterday I received my first ornament in the mail from the ornament swap I'm participating in (courtesy of FreshlyBlended).

It's from Jade over at Yellow Hall Studio

Mine are still in varying states of disrepair on my dining room table - thank goodness for the holiday weekend so I can hopefully make some sizable progress on them!

As Seen at the Grocery Store

This evening as I was leaving the grocery store I passed an elderly couple sitting on a bench waiting for their ride. She was sitting slightly hunched over in a dark tan trench coat with her sage green (dotted with pale pink flowers) scarf tied over her head and under her chin. She gazed wearily over the tops of her spectacles. He sat, more alert, to the right of her, his cane perched next to him at the ready. His black overcoat, too large for his frame, hung awkwardly about him. He had a fedora perched atop his head and it seemed to dance ever so slightly as his head swivelled about, keeping an ever watchful eye over them and their purchases.

Turkey Day in Recent Years

Last year was my first year home for Thanksgiving in about a decade, and you know what?  I can't even remember anything about it.  My post-college Thanksgivings had all been the same - on the road in some hotel celebrating with coworkers.

It's really not until those dinners though that you realize just how much of a family your tour-mates become.  The three years I was on tour with Christmas Carol it was usually just the crew who celebrated together - 7 stagehands and a bus driver.  Those were good times.  I remember my last very well - we were in Columbus Ohio and I was hung over - after dinner we went to see Rent at the movies.  My first year I don't remember the meal, but I remember the hotel - it was a Howard Johnsons in upstate New York, and they had a flooding problem so as you walked through the hallways the carpet just went "squish, squish."  It was sooooooo gross!

Sesame Street Live afforded me new experiences - international Thanksgivings!  It seems that no matter where in the world you are somewhere nearby there are other's celebrating Thanksgiving as well. 

Thanksgiving 2006 - Nassau, Bahamas:  After being perfectly fine the entire month we were in Mexico, I got a bug on the last day.  He was not a nice bug.  In fact he was quite a mean little bugger of a bug.  I was in so much pain that I had to be given a shot (of goodness knows what) at the Mexico City Airport by a doctor who didn't speak English but could only figure out what was wrong with me through motions and my bawling, and that was just to get me on the plane!  That day we flew Mexico City to Miami, had to go through customs in Miami, recheck our luggage, fly Miami to Nassau, go through immigration in Nassau, wait for the luggage only to find out that my bags were MIA!!!  I was miserable.  I spent most of the week, when I wasn't at work, in my room, in pain.  So that said, I have no clue what a Bahamian Thanksgiving is like.

Thanksgiving 2007 - Lima, Peru: 2 days prior to Thanksgiving I start having horrible pains and cramping in my stomach.  I did not get to enjoy a Peruvian Thanksgiving at the Lima Doubletree Hotel.

Thanksgiving 2008 - Madrid, Spain: Finally!!! An international Thanksgiving that I could go to!  The hotel did up a nice spread for us since we were the only Americans staying at the hotel.  I think there must have been one turkey for every three people - there was so much food!  It was nice, the cast, crew and management all celebrated together like the enormous dysfunctional family we were.

This year I will not be spending Thanksgiving with my family; they will be in Indiana (where my sister and brother-in-law live) and I will be in Pittsburgh.  I'm working the day before and the day after, so traveling to Indiana for one day did not make much sense.  Instead I will be at this:

I will be running a 5K with Alyssa through downtown Pittsburgh.  See - I told you I was still running!

For Thanksgiving dinner I have gotten a little 3 lb turkey roast, a box of Stove Top stuffing, and a can of cranberry sauce (NOT the weird jelly stuff that comes out shaped like the can - the stuff with whole berries in it), so Ellie and I will have our own little feast.  And since it'll be our first holiday together I'm even going to give her some turkey!

Stay tuned... Next Thursday I'll have the story of my favorite Thanksgiving ever!  It involves a popular children's television show, a popular holiday parade, a popular boy band, and a popular television mom - can you guess what it is?!?

Pardon the Mess...

I'm going to be playing around with layout for the next few days, so please pardon the ever changing mess until I find something I like.  And in honor of that I provide you a picture of the angry Korean construction monkey...

I'm not sure what it says, but given where it was located leads me to believe it says something along the lines of Keep Out - not that I want you to keep out... I'd like you to stay.  And bring friends.  And maybe your sister. 

Have I Told You...

Lately that I love Badescu?  As in Mario Badescu.  MB makes some of the best skincare products ever.  Like totally completely ever.  My roommate my senior year in college, Stacy, introduced me to their products, and let's just say from that moment I was hooked!  I have been using this stuff for about 8 years now and I love it!!! (yup totally worth the triple exclamation points)  You might have seen them in different magazines like Glamour, Vanity Fair, Allure... you get the idea.  Pretty much they're famous for this:

It's their Drying Lotion - it's this weird pink goop you put on white heads at night, and they disappear - seriously - they vanish practically overnight! I bought it once and used it for a while, but I'm not good with actually knowing where stuff is if I only need it occassionally and so I lost it and never replaced it (oh well).

They've expanded their line a lot since I first starting using their products but these are my old standbys that I love, love, love!!!  (Also you can now buy them online and in stores across the country - back when I started using them you had to go to their office or go to Henri Bendel in NYC)

I suppose I should preface this by saying that according to my skin survey that the consultant did at the store(which you can also do online) I have combination skin, so most of these products are good for all skin types.  The Enzyme Cleansing Gel is the work horse, it cleans without being too drying or abrasive.  The Special Cucumber Lotion is the astringent, very refreshing.  Oil Free Moisturizer with SPF 17 isn't too greasy, which I'm always worried about (they also now make it in SPF 30).  The Orange Tonic Mask and Kiwi Face Scrub (actual kiwi seeds are what does the scrubbing) are used on alternating days (in a perfect world - I've never been one for schedules though).  Best of all?  They actually work!!! I hate when I buy something that says it'll do one thing but doesn't live up to the hype - total annoyance.  AND everything smells totally yummy!!!

PS... if anyone needs to know what to get me for Christmas, I'm running low on all my old standbys.... (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Don't worry, for those of you not ready yet I will not utter the "C" word.  However it is looking a lot more like it.  Friday is Light Up Night here in Pittsburgh and the town is getting dressed up to the nines.  I always loved the holiday season downtown, especially when I was in college post-9/11 and it was cheaper for me to take the train home from NYC than to fly (pre-9/11 it was only $99 roundtrip to fly... that more than doubled).  My dad would come pick me up at the station at night (the train always got in way after dark) and we would drive through downtown and see all the lights and decorations and such, which is why this season always feels like coming home to me. 

I had hoped to post some pictures of Pittsburgh all decorated in preparation for Friday, but the weather has been so gross I haven't really had a chance to take any.  So here instead are some pictures of other cities decorated for the season that I have visited in recent years:

the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Oviedo, Spain

Cologne, Germany

Christmas Gnomes in Cologne, Germany

Cologne, Germany

Breakfast at the Christmas Market in Cologne, Germany

Potato Pancakes, Curry Wurst, and Gluhwein - yum!

Brussels, Belgium

Fun with photography in Brussels, Belgium

Hopefully this rainy, yucky weather stops soon and then I can show you how well Pittsburgh does the holidays up!

As Promised...

A few years back while I was visiting the Museo de Arte de Ponce (in Ponce, Puerto Rico) I was introduced to a wonderful company called The Unemployed Philosophers Guild.  For sale in the museum's shop was an expansive variety of their products.  Personally I was torn between the Vincent Van Gogh, with removable ear

and the Teddy Roosevelt finger puppet.  Obviously I chose the finger puppet.  My reasoning was as such: a) I was reading a biography of TR at the time; b) I was traveling and did not want to lose valuable suitcase space; and c) TR is possibly the coolest President of the US ever!  Don't get me wrong though, I totally do want to eventually get the VVG doll - who couldn't love him, removable ear and all?!?

After traversing the globe, TR now sits at my desk at work and occasionally when I'm looking for an answer (or comic relief) I turn to him.  An added bonus is that he is the spitting image of one of the head honchos at my office.  Recently (with the creation of the White Mustache Club) I decided TR needed his fellow club members to join him, and so yesterday marked the arrival of his pals Albert Einstein and Mark Twain.  I don't know if these men ever did meet each other, but how I'd love to a fly on the wall if they ever did! 

Here are some photos of the club members at my desk:



TR anxiously awaiting the arrival of his friends

The three of them hanging out at my desk (literally!! they have magnets in their heads)

Mr. Mark Twain

A close-up of Mr. Twain's suit coat - little buttons and all!

And finally.... Dr. Albert Einstein

Aren't they a great bunch?!?!?!?!?